Death's Beginning
by Visceral
Summary: Death, the ultimate equalizer. Is this what his dream, his goals and tyranny had brought him? Amon is dead, but where was he cast off too? See him rise again as something...else. Takes place after Season 1. A/U possible canon for amon in season 2. Eventual Amorra. Rated M for later in the chapters, mainly for intense action and bodily harm as well as language.
1. Prologue

**A/N : First attempt at a fanfic. Please criticize because I love suggestions, although if you tell me its shit, please tell me WHY its shit so i can adjust accordingly. If you do happen to like this please tell me so! Even if its just one person I'll continue with the storyline, there's a lot of avenues im ready to explore ;) Enjoy Reading *sidenote* its a long one **

**Edit: I reformatted all the chapters. This is now a background explanation that is not fully necessary to the story.  
**

**If you want to get straight to the action, just skip to the next chapter :P  
**

The tear ebbed out of Noatak's eye, in which was pent up all the frustrations, anger, loneliness, and guilt he felt day to day for the past 20 years.

But most of all he was grieving. His body shackled him in place, rooted, so he could not see as Tarlokk slowly drew the equalist glove onto his unsteady and shaking hand.

_All I ever wanted was my family back, to be equal among them again_

Just as he opened his sea-scorched lips, his final words floated gently on the wind

"I'm sorry, brother"

At that moment, he felt a pressure of unimaginable magnitude. He imagined it being comparable to what it would be like if his father could blood-bend him, but on such a scale... it was as if every single molecule of viscera and liquid in his battered body were being compressed down, continually, until every part of him formed a singularity. At that point, there was nothing, his slowly fading consciousness eluded him as he felt and watched his body dissipate fiber by fiber, grueling micrometers at a time. He felt it. He felt it all

Perhaps this was his punishment for not being there for his family, for his loving mother, and his ever awe-inspired little brother who he abandoned to carve out his own equality.

As the last bits of what he could once call himself eroded away into nothingness, Noatak raised his head into a vast void of ethereal black.

_So this is what the end feels like, finally I can be free_

He had fully dematerialized, yet, a thread remained of his former self and Noatak was cast away. As his physical remains left him, Noatak felt himself transported to a place of pure darkness, where matter bled out everywhere around him, but had no shape. Only a semblance of a vigor and ideology remained, a thread of his former self seemed to float off and embrace the endless void that now enveloped him.

* * *

Death, the ultimate equalizer. Is this what his dream, his goals and tyranny had brought him? Thrown away into a mass-less soup where he had neither a form nor enough consciousness to try to find a way out.

_Shouldn't I be in the spirit world? Where is my brother?_

"BROTHER, where are you!" The only notion that this thread could continually echo.

A sudden resonance broke the dull and pathetic dribble of Noatak's singular fiber, feebly trying to search for his brother. It boomed through everything in this primordial soup, coming from everywhere causing the structure of the universal plane to change and reflect a sort of, presence.

"Hmph, clueless as always, do you have any idea why you are here?"

A multi-faceted entity seemed to be addressing him from every which direction that he could discern with a cacophony of voices that invaded his conscious.

Noatak was allowed to be given a form. Of course what was most convenient was his human shape, but it wasn't the same. It constantly took on the form but collided and repelled, stitches of muscle, bone, and arteries would build themselves only to fall back into the same shapeless soup an instant later.

"What...where am I. What is this place? Is this really what the spirit world is like?"

Noatak's mass of soup burbled out into the cold dark void. He could barely remember his name anymore...it all seemed so... adrift and easy to forget.

The eminence that surrounded him replied with a quick grunt and continued in its multi-verse voice

"The ethereal realm! This is a place where everything is the same, equal, fair. Do not compare us to the spirit world, for it is a place of even more corruption than what you just inhabited, fair Noatak. The spirit realm is a constant reminder that once mortals pass from their realm, even in death, they cannot be equal, and there will be entities who will oppress them"

Noatak remembered, it seemed it happened an instant ago, but it was so hard to gather.

_I'm Dead._

The sudden crystal clear realization rang through his limited consciousness and in return, it reverberated throughout the realm he inhabited now. Anger started emanating from him, and in return his slowly forming body catastrophically collapsed into a mass-less soup. He was boiling, he could not retain any shape or form from the seething rage he remembered, at his own brother's betrayal!

_HOW COULD YOU TARLOKK_

The same thought kept repeating itself in his limited existence as he broke down

"Ah, so you remember. Do not worry yourself with the petty ties you had to the mortal realm"

The darkness now soothed him, every word it spoke he understood was meant for him, slowly he cooled, and once again could form himself into something.  
Finally, he managed to become a fully formed body, but no ascertainable features remained, just a hollow empty shell, equal.

"Impressive, it usually takes time for beings to learn how to conjure themselves like that, even if we allow them too"

This presence...it seemed to be...cooing to him? What was he even talking too.

Noatak's miniscule figure demanded a response from the ethereal wispy dark mass.

"Answer me, what sort of...being are you? If this is not the spirit world, are you a god?"

It laughed at him. Vibrations were sent out in all directions of the realm, he could feel it all around him, which caused his form to shake apart into a soup again and be left to reform at the sheer monstrosity of the presence. But he was not scared, he had nothing else to lose

"Hahaha, oh how we've missed a foreigners antics. It has been quite some time since we've had company here. Less and less spirits now-a-days dare to come into our realm, and even less mortals have existed at a time or another here. No noble Noatak, we are not a god, we are a collection, even immortal beings such as spirits must eventually retire, or **die **as you say, from their realm. We represent the most ageless and timeless of being's, all of us are one, though in rare times of need we will loan out our individuality. You, are one such case we suspect."

This only raised more questions, as Noatak slowly drew strength from the space around him, he could feel himself starting to remember more and more of his recent life, all the bleak and joyless days up until the end. That bitch Korra, it was all her fault, he could have been together with his brother, and they could have ruled equally...  
The next logical step seemed apparent to him then, why!

_Why...why...why am I here_

Again there seemed to be a favorable shift in the realm. He could sense everything around him was delighted at his thought.

Gleefully, the multi-faceted presence shifted in tone and voice to delight.

"Correct, exactly, why are you here?"

Noatak's form slowly gathered even more strength, he started molding his shape and distinguishing his features as he remembered himself when suddenly his form twisted, congealed and shattered.

At that moment, he could feel a death grip on whatever it was that he was now. He started feeling the compression again, surrounded and crushed by it.

"THAT IS NOT ALLOWED, while you may be allowed a form here, we are all equal in this world. You will not try to bring in your poison of individuality here!" The matter surrounding Noatak attached to him with this sentiment, everything shook in the realm as if in agreement and poised to extricate the foreign thread of consciousness if it violated its principles again.

Noatak felt the pressure suddenly lessen and he was given free reign over his conscious again, but still he felt monitored.

The dark matter that embodied the realm then seemed to give a sort of a sigh and huffed. Noatak reformed his broken soup of a body only to be met with a conglomeration of the material inhabiting the realm, which slowly built itself in the form of a human body.

The thing's mouth opened, and rather than the whole realm shaking and addressing him from every direction, this time, only the body spoke. This time only one voice addressed him. Something that was so old, every word dripped with timeless dark wisdom. The seriousness of his current situation eluded Noatak as he decided he would not try to listen anymore. He did not notice that 'its' entire body constantly was shifting as if the soup it was made of was crafted from the pure darkness that surrounded him.

* * *

The realm that surrounded Noatak stopped drifting and froze.

The gravity of his current predicament finally set in and he realized just how hopeless his situation was. He broke down into hysterical sobs, resoundingly pitiful and sad.

"I just want to go back, we never got too see my mother like I promised we would, we never got to be one as a family again, if I could just go back I wouldn't even be angry at him, or even that...girl" He slowly dribbled out these words from his form, and something resembling tears flowed from his eyes, as he realized that there is nothing left for him.

"There is a reason you were...returned here rather than into the spirit realm Noatak. You came back for a reason. Every so often, a part of us returns back into the other worlds. You came from this plane, just as most ideas and things have done since time immemorial. You took on the guise of a human form and that is why you have come back to us. While we retain no personal identities while in this realm, everything eventually is recycled into here."

Noatak looked straight ahead now at the human form that swirled constantly in its own darkness. His confusion was apparent, even in a human shape with no distinguishing factors. He now gave his full attention to this...spirit?...No it was more like a mass of pure dark terror

He blurted out in his frustration with a voice that betrayed his fear of the unknown

"What am I then?"

Something of a smirk appeared on the face of the dark denizen as it continued.

" Believe this, you did initiate at one point in existence as something quantifiable. Something independent. Something else. Something that of its own free will decided to join this realm after its time had come. While you did not know it, you are the embodiment of equality Noatak, your mission in your existence was to give to others and care for everyone equally. Even your name's literal meaning embodies that message."

Noatak became too comfortable with his current position, in his current state of despair, it was all he could do to just laugh at the dark form's little story. As if he hadn't heard this hippy shit before about his name, he didn't believe he had much of a meaning in life... until he became Amon.

_This was a mistake._

The dark mass did not find his...'reaction'... suitable to what it had just said

Noatak was then stricken with a feeling of terror as he was enveloped by the frozen matter around him, squeezing tightly like a blanket, cutting off all his thoughts. Suddenly, the dark voice left its pile of matter and joined in the enveloping black sphere that was engulfing him, it bade in a terrifying voice to listen very carefully.

"REMEMBER NOATAK, while we respect you, you are not an individual here, it is...prudent to listen and try to understand what we have told you, but...perhaps its just easier to show you..."

As Noatak was slowly pulverized into melding with the sphere, it showed him a past. Visions flashed vividly in his conscious, times and periods far past his most recent life, a time back before even humans and spirits inhabited the mortal realm. His spirit strained hard as he was flooded with old images of an ageless past. His form crumpled and he wondered, is that a river? It was the most pure thing he'd ever seen

It came flooding back with a tidal wave of clarity, he realized he was that river! He had originated as the first ever river spirit incarnated in the spirit world. He provided for the beings of the spirit world equally and when the mortal world grew enough, he willingly moved and strived to bring everyone equal access to his waters and rich care. By mere chance and coincidence, he was the river that brought most of the people of the Northern Water Tribe together from the boundaries of the ocean. He always wondered why he had such a strong bond with the waters there, he always felt more powerful in the north pole...

The swirling sphere of dark matter dissipated, and again two bodies formed from the whirlpool of floating soup.

Noatak slowly stood up in his unstable form and remembered, how recently, he was the leader of a equalist movement fighting for the right of the common man. All the oppression and pain he witnessed, he couldn't bare it any longer.

* * *

There seemed to be a subtle shift in the plane of existence around him.

There was a sudden vibe of sadness that poured forth from the dark body in front of Noatak, everything seemed to tense within the realm which it then mirrored accordingly with its vibrations and constrictions. Disdain now permeated the thick soup of matter that came from everywhere and the darkness bade him listen still

"You were pure in your intentions for the cause of everyone around you until you became infected with the disease of personality. You were at your strongest when you cast away any sort of identity and took on the mantle of Amon. You became more than a man, more than a spirit or mortal. You became an idea, the final embodiment of equality, no ties to be tainted with other then fairness. Regardless of whether you were a bender or not, you understood what it took to change the imperfections of the world."

The void around him started trembling again, but this time something different was happening.

This time, all the matter around him started condensing around Noatak, but now there was a slow throbbing and flowing into his molded human form, filling it as if it were a vessel.

Every emotion that was ever registrable in existence seemed to fill and empty within his form that he had created out of the nether. He screamed out in his mind with a shock wave of raw power.

_WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME, MAKE IT STOP_

For a moment the congealing dark matter seemed to slow, but then continually started entering and draining away from him faster and faster

The dark body that had previously spoken seemed to be drifting slowly towards Noatak's form. It watched to see if his spirit and his consciousness could handle the immense eons of knowledge; power, hardships, love, and anger that passed through him. It came in the form of pure raw spikes of dark energy, each time depositing a reserve of exponentially rising power.

The dark mass that had adopted a human form seemed to be shifting faster and faster in its makeup of matter, becoming a representative and mirror of Noatak's transformation.

"Just as the spirit world has a bridge to the mortal world in the form of the avatar, so too must the ethereal world have a link."

Noatak couldn't understand nor hear anything anymore, he was at the mercy of the ravaging nether that now engulfed his very soul, filling it with power but also pain and anguish of everything that had ever relinquished itself to the void of the ethereal.

"While you have always heard regaled stories of the Avatar and his and her triumphs, it is time for a new legend to arise...another... equalizing force."

Noatak was slowly transforming, he was taking on a translucent quality as his spirit and resolve started to harden with the ardor of countless experiences.

"IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG, respect shall finally be given again to US. What better entity to champion the cause of equality then the spirit and embodiment of equality itself!"

Noatak slowly pulsed now, he could feel himself becoming something more, the sum of all his parts. Not only his own past lives and experiences but of other things. Things that were better left forgotten, dead and decrepit in the realm of this ethereal mass that have no place being anywhere else.

"The time has come, dear Noatak, the Avatar's original use for bending was to bring equality, only to be relied on for self-protection, not spreading violence and taking sides, not as a tool for subjugating the throngs of innocents. It is too late however, countless people have been harmed who can and cannot bend the elements. She in its current incarnation has caused enough damage the world over, and it is time for you to show TRUE EQUALITY to the mortal world."

The dark entity was now planted firmly in front of Noatak's form, its ever constant shifting mass swirling with dark energies. He slowly drained now, having been completely imbued, filled and emptied now millions of times over with the dark soup that now placidly flowed away and back into the vastness of the realm again.

Fallen to his knees, he was exhausted, his spirit barely able to contain the plethora of knowledge and sheer power he gained. He seemed to glow with a vibrant radiance now in a strange black tone that shimmered around his body and coursed through his spirit, he felt as if a crack was forming in his entire form as he adopted a new ethereal form, complete with arterioles, venules, and circulating life-blood. It was filled however now with a dark Ichor rather than crimson blood, and he could feel it's raw power banging against his insides.

"You may not be the avatar, but you will become our herald, noble Noatak, you will become something far more powerful in the mortal realm. Although you will be associated with far darker and more nefarious infamous acts then before, understand, that THIS is the true path to equality, there have been none like you before...you will become..."

As the Mass of dark entity placed its hand on his placated shoulders, and gazed into Noatak's eyes, he gazed back into the void that was the entity, filled with absolute dread. He felt himself slowly escaping and had the feeling of being slowly compressed again. Losing all his new found sense's he was withering away as if being materialized somewhere else. Right before he passed out, the entity's final words ringed with terrible resolve in his ears, but he couldn't hear.

"...Something far more powerful...you will become..."

"DEATH, the first and only spirit bender."

**"What do you mean death!" All will be explained in the following chapters :D Inspired mainly by HissingSnake's "The Healing" and Pour Fayor's "To End Well" also with some recent batman influence, brownie points if you can tell me where. Again, thanks for reading, harsh criticism's welcome as long as they are constructive. If you stayed to read the whole thing, hopefully you found something you liked. The whole river bit came from googling Noatak, at which point i tried to weave it in.**


	2. Funeral Procession

**A/N : Hi guys, fellow readers and Amon enthusiasts, I hope you will be pleased with my realization of Amon. The rest of these chapters I will try to keep short and concise because it helps me craft a more interesting and engaging read. I couldn't particularly wait to write this next chapter, as I have a tendency to lose my idea's. So here it is, please please and pretty please leave a comment, review, critique, anything you like. I'm always lookin for new ideas :D This next chapter revolves around Korra and what's happened while Amon was gone! Enjoy**

*DONG*...*DONG*...*DONG*...

The customary funeral bells rang on, as a mass congregation proceeded. Unlike regular bells however, these tolled in a high-pitch frequency, hand-crafted by ancient northern water tribesmen who painstakingly carved them out of ice.

They used to signify the passing of a very special person, usually royalty, but in this modern day and age they rung for a man of high status. A man like Tarlokk. He was found dead along with the wanted fugitive Amon adrift at sea. Most speculations had agreed that Amon had kidnapped Tarlokk for another plot, but somehow their ship exploded in what was a battle for survival.

Miraculously, both bodies remained intact, although the criminal Amon had lost any recognizable features. His corpse was found 'equalized' mangled, as if partially eaten, and sustained a degree of water damage much higher than Tarlokk's remains strangely. The coroner had a tough time stitching back pieces of flesh and sinew to its rightful place.

The toughest part of all was remodeling the skin on Amon, as he had sustained murderous 3rd-degree burns to his entire body. Embalming fluid seemed to escape his tortured corpse and oozed out his entrails as well as from every pore in his body.

* * *

A giant man of water-tribe nobility boldly strode to take the podium as all halted and sat in the great funeral hall of the Northern Water Tribe.

"Fellow benders, non-benders, ladies, and gentleman, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Tarlokk, Councilman to the majesty that is Republic City..."

_Hmph Good Riddance. To the both of them._

Korra's negligible thought rang like a buzzard-wasp throughout her mind and body. While she heard the man talk at the podium, she noticed he only spoke about Tarlokk, and for good reason. After his deceit was revealed, Amon's movement disenfranchised itself in disgust at what they were led by.

_Who Could Blame Them?_ Thought Korra to herself, _They were both manipulating freaks who frankly, got what they deserved._

The past month had been nothing short of a living hell. She lived in constant terror that Amon would come back to finish the job, and possibly take more than her bending away... Although she received a security retinue of 10 metal benders, and was protected by every Air acolyte in the city while at Air Temple Island, she never truly felt safe.

She turned to her left, quietly whispering in Tenzin's ear

"Why do we have to be here? Shouldn't we be happy he's dead? I mean, the war is over! That asshole is gone...for good!"

She got a little bit too excited and received multiple death stares from the crowd around her. She replied with a sheepish grin and stretched her arm behind her back in embarrassment.

Tenzin furrowed his brow as he usually did when he was confronted with Korra's oblivious stupidity.

" *sigh* Please Korra, you mustn't use such language, especially at such an occasion! If you did not remember, this ceremony is for Tarlokk, a man who by all means still has remained true to the cause of the common people. Why Amon is here is beyond me, but show your respect to the dead."

Korra sighed to herself, it was useless, she was stuck here watching what should in her mind be a grand celebration.

She was irked and felt her body grow hot with anger

Of course she knew why Amon was here, or rather...Noatak. Him and Tarlokk were blood-brothers, both blood bending bastards who did untold damage and while she hated both of them, she did pity Tarlokk's unfortunate fate.

Only her and Mako knew the truth about their link, and she dared not tell anyone else, lest whatever honor and faith that was left in Tarlokk's death be dissipated. She knew she was a hard-ass, and would never forgive Amon but she understood why she was in attendance and realized that Tarlokk, in the end, was only trying to help.

Mako sensed frustration from the girl next to him, and raised and lowered his arm around her to provide comfort and solitude.

Korra resigned herself to the arm of her...Friend? Boyfriend? Whatever they were now, she could confide in him, and they had a mutual respect and... love. For each other.

* * *

As nightfall set in, Korra exited her specially appointed residence and arched her back and stretched down to return the feelings to her lax leg muscles. Sitting all day in that hall had done a number on her, and she rotated her neck and yawned out into the gorgeous desolate landscape, her head, however, seemed to wander back to the hall of the dead.

With an exacerbated exhale, she decided she needed to go examine the burial site that she had detested so much.

Wandering aimlessly into the grand hall, she came upon the newest additions to its collection. Korra noticed for the first time that there was no splendor or expense withheld for Tarlokk's mighty sarcophagus. It was encrusted with paintings and carvings of Republic City and an image of him sitting at a semi-lunar table. In the finer details, she could make out Tarlokk standing and beating his gavel, passing his judgement and justice on the city.

Finally she walked over to the measly pittance of a coffin, crafted completely of obsidian, next to his.

_This place and that coffin are too good for such a lowly shit as you_

Never had she thought that she was capable of hating something so much with every inch of her existence. The countless hours of terror, hurt, and pain that he had caused her directly and indirectly had haunted her. Until now. A wave of relief seemed to course through Korra at that very moment.

Suddenly, she stumbled backwards in fright and instinctively raised her fore arms in defense as the coffin seemed to tremble for a moment ever so slightly.

_HOLY SHIT...Did it just...move!_

She dropped her defense and regained her composure, a calmness setting in her face.

Korra squinted around to make sure no one was in sight, and slowly moved closer to the coffin to examine it in further detail. Her radiant blue eyes scanned the surface as she calmly placed a quiescent hand over the lid.

_Well, lets hope curiosity doesn't kill the cat..._

She tried budging the lid with her one hand but it resisted. She then put her entire body behind the movement, flexing her arms and pushing with the soles of her feet and her hips to finally grind the lid across.

At first, Korra was too scared to peer in, realizing this was a terrible idea, while all of her trepidation and horror flooded back into her. She took a step back and raised her arms to her chest in self-protection, her face taking on a mask of grimace and horror.

Eventually she got over herself and risked it.

She took three steps forward and peered into the coffin. However she couldn't distinguish anything as it seemed to radiate a cimmerian gloom that hid its contents.

Korra quickly dispelled this darkness with a quick burst of flame from her fingers. She stared willingly into the void... finally noticing a shape.

Almost without warning, Korra was blasted back onto the cold densely packed snow, the impact and shock of which bruised her cheekbone as some mis-shapen 'thing' spastically erupted from the coffin.

Korra screamed out in fear, betraying herself to the unknown thing.

She felt frozen to the floor, stuck with her legs given out under her, sitting up on her kneecaps and powerless as her eyes willed their tear-stained gaze onto the mass of flesh that was directly in front of her.

She heard a sharp intake of air that sounded pained and raspy. The mass of flesh stood up and miraculously started mending itself. All the sutures that fell out, taking with its descent, various sown flesh and body parts as well as the liquid that had stained the ground beneath it now flowed back in and disappeared. The 'thing' opened its Ichor-soaked mouth and moaned in Korra's direction, then seemed to stop itself.

Again, it opened its mouth "You...mu-...help...me" was all Korra could distinguish from its broken and ripped tongue before the shape collapsed on the floor.

**Hope you enjoyed, next chapter will again return to Amon's viewpoint, and the action and violence will finally start, perhaps even Korra might start..evolving her opinion of Amon? Thanks for reading :D**


	3. Rise of The Dead Pt 1

**A/N: Next two chapters will come at once! Had a writer's block =/ I'm starting to run out of adjectives guys. Thanks for the PM's with advice, I appreciate it alot, as always, I will love you if you write a comment, review, critique, anything :D If you happen to google Amon and god, some very interesting stuff pops up, it will come into play in the rest of the story. For those wondering, the next two chapters will contain some very interesting stuff. Enjoy reading this short blurb ^^**

_The...Cold..._

Noatak's collapsed form presently lay at the feet of the avatar. Her horrified face watching on in doom at what was to come.

A strange anomaly started forming around Noatak's body as he felt his brief new-found life becoming submerged under a wave of condemning calamity which dulled his sense's and made him a third party viewer to his own body.

His shade crackled with physical manifestations of power, coming out in the form of shock waves of darkness. His skin slowly crawled and darkened to a shade of midnight black. His already tattered and stained funeral robes seemed to darken in its host's presence.

* * *

Korra saw this form rising and was buffeted by waves of sheer energy coming off of him. As it rose, she realized it was the slowly transforming body of Amon.

Rivers continually poured out of her radiant sapphire-blue eyes as she realized she had unleashed this monster back unto the world.

The essence of fear and dread was violently reverberating from him, crashing around the grand hall around them. Korra tried looking into his face for any semblance of an emotion or thought...

Korra screamed out again as she peered into the void of Amon's tattered hood-covered head. Rather than a face being present, there was only a thick impenetrable veil of darkness.

At this final scream, two guards finally came running to the avatar's shrill voice, making out from the distance some sort of dark image in front of her.

As they ran up behind her, they noticed the empty obsidian sarcophagus of the notorious terrorist Amon. The form in front of them now stood at full attention, the darkness that previously surrounded his face now seemed to spill out and around his body, engulfing and hiding the terror of his form from full view.

Both guards looked at each other and gulped audibly and turned back at what they assumed was Amon. They placed their lances directly at his chest.

"Amon, do not move, you are under arrest for your crimes against benders and non-benders alike, you will be held liable at trial for your actions." Said the soldier closest to Korra unconvincingly with his quavering voice.

* * *

A palatable change seemed to take place in the air around them. Korra noticed a certain electricity charge through the air and a spiritual intensiveness so strong, that even her dulled sense could register them. Her weeping took a pause as she tried to regather herself now.

An eclectic voice seemed to slowly build with resounding strength from the room, but in reality it originated from the form in front of them.

Amon's form walked slowly forward into the lances, letting the tip of each blade pierce the septum of his chest cavity as he slowly ran himself through. Nothing seemed to come out, to the guards chagrin.

The building voice now lashed out in a temperament of annoyance

"You meek mortals will not stop our heralding advance, it is time to bring equality to your world, we will take over where the avatar before you has failed countless times."

As the figure seemed to let out a booming laugh, Korra again registered a change in the air but couldn't quite understand what it was. Only later would she know.

It was murderous intent.

Amon's walking form suddenly shifted, he gathered a glowing red mist which seemed to appear from nowhere as he moved his arms and body out of sync with his perceived image. Such a thing couldn't be possible in their reality and in turn, tore a veil in the fabric of space around them, forming holes over the grave sites surrounding them.

The guards nervously switched looks between themselves, and attempted to stab and slash their lances continually into the form in front of them, which had no effect.

Korra finally managed to collect herself and realized what was going on.

"QUICK, WE HAVE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE OR WE'LL DIE"

Morbid and Decaying spirits surrounded them, as she ran away figuring out the guards couldn't see the spirits and weren't listening.

Korra's frightened figure started to hurry out of the hall when she heard a sickening crunch.

She turned back. She wished she hadn't.

The two guards who were left behind were now levitating above the ground, suspended by the dead. Their limbs were slowly and tortuously twisted and cracked off. Pure gore fell out of their vacated bodies, their screams echoing throughout the hall and eventually subsiding as their lives left them, and took their place near Amon's booming figure. The corpses were thrown aside as the life-fluid fully drained out onto the compact ice in the hall, creating a scene of chaos and hell.

Amon slowly started moving forward as a conclusive whisper on the wind floated towards Korra

"You're next..."

**Final A/N: I wrote this while drunk, as I am on vacation and had 1 hour to kill, will come back in 5 days after I'm less inebriated and remember my thoughts. **


	4. Rise of The Dead Pt 2

**A/N: This chapter really helped me map out what I'm doing for the upcoming chapters. Sorry to disappoint, but I can't release two at once :( however the next one will come out very soon, promise. More comments and everything are always welcome. I'll try to make the next chapter twice as long and pack some more development into it ^^**

_The...Cold..._

All Korra could think about was the frozen dead air around her.

She was used to the cold of the North and South Poles, but there was some sort of master water bending work in this hall. Her perfectly darkened skin was tight and her hairs stood on edge when she came in, but now was fully goose bumped through by the cold death that was chasing her as she meekly tried to escape.

_Shit, shit, shit, I can't get away from them!_

Korra's thoughts were a swirl as she realized she wouldn't be able to escape by just running away.

She stopped running.

A spirit managed to catch up to her and tore at her exposed flesh, cutting a deep gash that went across her left shoulder all the way to the right, exposing even more of her skin to the frostbiting air.

She compacted the ice around the spirit's legs. It would seem bending worked on them.

* * *

Korra turned around and summoned two huge ice blocks from the ground and smashed its head and upper body between the blocks. A very realistic portrayal of brain matter and viscera spattered around her as she adopted a new stance. Korra's shoulders throbbed as the strain of the effort took its toll, but she ignored the slick red heat coming out of her back.

She planted her feet into the ground and brought her hands down as a circle under her diaphragm. She just thought up of this move from training with Mako and Bolin. Maintaining her form, she breathed out and moved her hands up slowly from her lower abdomen to her chest.

There was a sudden rumble as a huge chunk of earth responded from under the solid compact snow and broke through the surface.

Korra grinned as she split her hands open, the rock breaking into hundreds of tiny pieces, and motioned them into the huge crowd of dead spirits in front of her.

Next thing she saw was the whole section in front of her burst into flames, with Amon at the helm. Using the natural ore found in the earth, she synthesized firebending to immolate the hundreds of flying rocks in an intense flash of heat which caused a fireworks display of burning spirits.

Although her upper body now screamed at her as blood gushed out violently from her back, she smirked as she saw spirits fall in what she thought could only have been defeat.

"You're petty tricks won't work on us, Avatar, it is time for you to be fully..._equalized _"

A shade lunged out of the smoke and fire directly at Korra.

She barely had enough time to threw her body weight to the left as she tried to mitigate the damage from Amon's attack.

She exhaled a labored and pained breath as she looked down at her left leg which had just sustained 4 fractures in 2 different places, she could feel the pieces of bone floating in her leg as well as her tibia poking out under her knee cap.

Blood pooled around Korra as she vainly struggled to hobble on one leg and stay up. She blasted a weak fireball at Amon's head from her damaged arms, seeming to have landed a direct hit.

As the vapor cleared from Amon's hooded face, Korra stared intently at it.

She gaped yet again at his terrifying figure, his transformation had fully taken place and she remembered now where she had seen his visage before. Every hall of the dead in every nation showed a picture of his symbol and many a book portrayed his image...

Her brilliant sapphire eyes dilated in her realization.

She managed to muster enough strength to give a weak squeak.

"You're...you're the spirit of Death, aren't you?"

Apparently, even the ancient things that now bridged the gap from the ethereal world through Amon's body were prone to bouts of Pride.

The shade of Amon looked around and seemed to nod in recognition of its symbol's and mark

"No you foolish girl, we are not a spirit, though it is good that you're world seems to remember of our existence."

Amon seemed to huff and finished talking in spitting anger and annoyance

"Death has existed far before you're insignificant notions of spirits have, and we have been trying to straighten the cosmic balancing scale for a long time now, something that you should be doing but have failed."

Korra's eyes glazed over as she looked around her and saw she was surrounded by hundreds of spirits, more than what the hall seemed to hold. As her life fluid escaped her, she pathetically whimpered while her right leg gave up trying to support her at all. She tried to think of a plan but realized it was futile, she would die in this place, frozen and alone.

Amon's shade walked over and the darkest recesses of his face bored into her.

"Do not worry Avatar, you have tried your best these countless millennia."

His face seemed to glower as he raised his hands around Korra's head

"However, it is time to strip you of your former lives and insure you can't do this damage again, so that we may return balance to this world... and the next."

Tendrils of consternation invaded Korra's mind as she exploded into a brilliant radiance, what she could only remember as the avatar state.

* * *

Amon's form slowly seemed to lighten as the Avatar's former lives forcibly went into him and out, having their knowledge and experiences torn from them. Korra however seemed to darken as her life-force slowly depleted. She was being engulfed by the void that inhabited Amon's body, the sheer amount of beings currently residing in there tearing at her psyche and sanity.

Korra's sliver of herself waded through the darkness of Amon's soul being pulled further and further in, her former lives trailing her and dissipating. She seemed to reach the core of the endless soup of beings, and it was here she found something pure and light. Something not like anything around her. Korra extended a mental picture of a hand towards the little ball of light. It was then that her former lives surged forward from her and stuck themselves as a bridge to the ball.

Amon's form shuddered as the horrible visage and dread that poured out of him seemed to stop ebbing out. His mask of darkness that surrounded his face simply disappeared as well as the deadly spirits that had formed a circle around their two bodies.

Korra's former lives seemed to nurture the ball of light in Amon's darkened soul as it expanded exponentially, slowly pushing out and taking more space. Korra found herself experiencing images of an ancient time, a...river? She also sparsely registered different spirits and eventually people coming around the river, being fed and nurtured. Korra then saw replays of images of a man and woman, obviously different each time, but it seemed her former lives registered these images as being themselves. Korra felt herself blush in her consciousness as she saw more then she wanted to and then it seemed her visions changed again. Two children were now playing together, only to be cruelly cut-off by their father as he told them to stop wasting time and come inside. It flash-forwarded to a trip where this father seemed to tell them a terrible secret and the vision of Amon's mask and dreams drifted in. As Korra felt herself returning to her own body, she heard a resoundingly powerful voice in her mind that seemed to bring back her own withdrawn life-force and mend her broken body.

"I am sorry you had to see that Avatar Korra, I am sorry for everything, I hope in time you will forgive me for what I've done to you, your friends, the world...everything. I wish I had time to explain but...one day...you'll know."

* * *

The two bodies now seemed to be huddled together in an embrace as Noatak unclenched himself from her form, his eyes finally draining from their midnight black to two orbs of pure snow white outlined by crystal clear blue lines at the edges.

Korra's body was fully healed but she was not awake and probably wouldn't be for awhile.

Noatak stood up and stared at her body. He took off his outer layer of funeral robes and covered her up with them. Noatak walked over to the two dismembered gore-ridden bodies behind him and gathered snow from around him in his hands. He managed to seep the blood out of every crevice back into the bodies and managed to reform and restitch every single fiber of muscle, blood, and bone using his own special bending of water and spirit bending. Noatak then grunted with effort to gather red mist from a different realm around him and moved his spirit out of context with his body to implant the two spirits he'd ravaged before back into the bodies.

It would seem he had succeeded but only time would tell.

As Noatak slowly walked back out towards the entrance of the Hall, he looked longingly one last time at the form of Korra, her chest cavity slowly rising and falling, her hot breath leaving her body creating little instances of clouds.

He sighed

_If only she could remember, maybe it's been too long..._

Noatak left the Hall of the Dead and headed north to a very special place of his...home.

**A/N: Amorra will start coming after about the next 3 chapters. :D  
**


	5. Past Love

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and PM's guys, I'm feelin the love and I have taken suggestions to heart. This chapter seems very lovey dovey but I started tearing (crying) up because of what I'm thinking of doing, so take this one to heart, Noatak is a momma's boy :D Love your mom. Sorry about it being shortish again, I'll stop making promises I can't keep. There was a lot of conflicting thoughts and viewpoints going on, so I just decided to split it into 2 chapters. Hope you like it, as always, please leave me any comments.****  
**

A sunny beautiful dawn rose over the small local northern water tribe. A single ray struck the hills on the outskirts and slowly crept up and finally shown on a woman who was standing, staring at the sky. The sun eventually woke up the inhabitants who greeted it as a good omen for a good day.

The woman however, did not change her demeanor. She had spent the last month grieving, night and day over the death of her son and the emotional damage that it inflicted had taken its toll. She had already been devastated when her eldest left nearly 20 odd years ago without so much as a good bye, and her husband's death brought no solace.

She was escorted home a night ago by a flying bison after nearly desecrating her son's funeral by cursing at the murderer who for whatever unfathomable reason was allowed to be buried there, let alone along with her son and in the same ceremony! She had spat upon the sarcophagus of Amon and asked that he be burned in a pit instead.

She had occupied herself by sitting outside in the recent nights, staring into the starry cosmos above, praying to the spirits, the gods, whatever was out there that perhaps her oldest son was yet alive.

The mere thought drove her into a hysterical state every time she thought of why he would possibly abandon his family, especially his loving mother. Perhaps she had not taken good enough care of him...

She managed to finally gather herself and walk back towards the hut, away from the sunlight, ready to start her trivial menial tasks of the day.

As she reached the entrance of her hut, she noticed a man's figure in the distance flying across the snow on what looked like a pure slab of ice. As he drifted closer, he seemed to slow down and notice the village finally.

_This seems like a good place to rest before I finally reach home._

Noatak, unknowingly, came to a complete stop in front of his mother's house, melting his ice-board away into the snow. He removed the hood-like object that covered his face, which was attached to his stolen parka and layered clothes that he acquired as he left the other village far in the south.

The first thing she noticed was his beautiful ice-white eyes with a blue outlining, then she looked at his face.

"Hello madam, is there by chance anywhere I can stay for a night in this village? I'll work off my debt and help in anyway I can for some food and shelter"

The woman's violet eyes lit up and swelled with tears. Her mouth opened in a gape as she broke into a hysterical sob and started running to nearly tackle the grown man in front of her.

"My...My-*gulp*-...My dear Noatak, you've finally come back to me!" She struggled out in breathy rasps between bursts of tear filled sobs, fully embracing her son.

Noatak was taken unawares and was astonished, he needed to take a second.

_This woman...She's my...Mother..._

Although his true identity was reformed and revealed to him in his state of death, his most recent incarnation of Noatak and Amon did not escape his mind. Even a spirit as old as himself was still currently trapped in a mortal life, and as such, was subject to a human's emotions.

He tentatively put his hands on his mother's shoulders as she sobbed into his parka, overflowing with tears of joy.

"Mother..."

He fully embraced her and lifted her in the air, streams of happiness running down his face as he yelled out.

"MOM IT'S YOU"

The cliche embrace seemed to last an eternity but neither of them minded, just content with holding each other. Finally he could fulfill at least part of his promise to his late brother and see their mother again. Eventually Noatak's mother slackened her grasp and looked more clearly at her son's face.

"How did you know it was me?" He asked with a look of surprise on his face.

She smiled lovingly. "A mother always knows her sons. It's what's in here that told me" She poked under the layers of his clothing at his heart. He looked away in shame. Funny, he felt only emptiness there.

The woman cupped his face in her two hands, and drew it back to face her. She took on a look of tenderness and love.

"Oh how you have grown, my dear son"

Her brow furrowed quizzically.

"But how is it that you don't look a day over 20?"

Noatak stared into his mother's deep violet eyes, a rare trait, and for the first time saw a reflection of himself and what he looked like.

It was true, his skin seemed darker and taut, perfectly smooth and wrinkle free. His eyes positively glowed in his sockets without any sign of sacs, age, or tiredness. His chin stuck out in a cleft fashion. Even with his clothes on, he could see the faint outlines of rippling muscles, holding his mother's shoulders.

It seems that a side effect of his rebirth and that _hideous _transformation was that he was replenished with his youth.

He still couldn't piece together how he came back, only that there was an ever-looming dark presence in him, like a parasite. He knew he had to get home soon or something bad would happen...something evil.

He dropped his hands off his mother's shoulders, and placed his left hand on top of his mother's hand on his cheek and the other on her cheek.

He sharply inhaled with what sounded like sorrow and pain. The intensity of the moment caught up to him, regardless of whether or not he was an ancient being, he recognized this woman as his mother and maker.

As he slowly broke down into tears, he managed to blurt out.

"I'm so-...so *sob* sorry mother..."

It was the only thing he could drone until she smiled at him and finally said.

"Come in dear, you can tell me inside, you'll catch a cold out here"

Two figures happily entered the hut holding each other by the waist.

* * *

Noatak's mother put on a kettle and sat down and looked anxiously at her son, gone for 20 years, now only popping up after her youngest son's death and recent funeral.

Noatak looked nervous, his mind reeling with the possibilities of explanations and what to tell her and not tell her, or should he just say everything?

His body remained completely still but his eyes darted back and forth in his skull like a pair of humming-finches.

His mother laughed.

"Even after 20 years, I know when you're keeping something from me Noatak. Tell me, where have you been all these years? Why have you never told us...me. about what happened to you? If you can't tell your mother, who can you tell?."

Noatak's anxiousness seemed to overtake him, his mother always was a keen one.

He fidgeted where he sat, accepting a hot cup of tea from his mother, finally deciding on telling her everything.

"Mom...I- I'm Amon"

Noatak's stomach sank as he understood the full gravity of the effect it would have on his mother.

She stared blankly at him with rigid eyes and took a moment.

What followed for the next hour was Noatak's unloading of not only his most recent incarnation...but what he truly was, a river spirit. He couldn't explain how he came back or why his brother decided to kill them both. That was the hardest thing for her to accept, that her youngest would willingly kill them both.

"Noatak..I...need some time to process, to think...why don't you stay here and rest while I go do the shopping and some chores"

Noatak exuberantly accepted, it seemed his mother hadn't lost her caring touch over all these years and he happily went to go lay down and rest.

His mother left the hut, and Noatak finally closed his eyes to rest.

A timeless dark voice seemed to echo from within his body.

"Don't get too comfortable, we have work to do Noble Noatak. Don't forget, you are our herald, our envoy, our prophet of the equalist era to come."

Noatak's body seemed to seize and once again, his eyes and skin started crawling and metamorphosing into a midnight shade of black. He fought for internal control of his body as the familiar sensation of being compressed and swept away overtook his mind and spirit.

_You will not have me today, whatever the hell you are_

"Oh how cruel, how could you forget us already? You are us, but fine, for the time being it seems we cannot force you, but that will soon change..."

The dark voice that cooed at him left his mind, and Noatak felt full possession of his faculties once again.

_If I had turned into that thing again...with my mother around..._

He shuddered at the mere thought and put it out of his mind.

Drowsiness soon set in as he had been awake for so long, sleep eventually drifted into Noatak's exhausted body as he fell quietly asleep.

**A/N: Hope you enjoy the foreshadowing ;)**


	6. Present Hate

**A/N: Hiya readers. Hope you're not a strong makorra shipper cause he kind of gets shit on. To be fair I like him, just I needed to setup the amorra thing a bit :P This is where the story train gets off the canon rails and takes a 1000 foot derailing off the A/U cliff. Hope you like it, I will add more to it in time, and it will all play a role quite beautifully. Enjoy reading, as always, please leave comments and till next time :D **

A sunny beautiful dawn rose over the large northern water tribe town. A single ray of light passed from the entrance of the hall and struck the floor, it slowly crept up and finally shown itself over Korra's face.

She turned in her sleep and then gasped as she sat up.

_Holy Crap, that was a weird dream_

Her brilliant sapphire eyes scanned the room, and her sleepy demeanor quickly turned into one of alarm as she saw the two collapsed guards near an empty sarcophagus.

There seemed to be tattered and dirtied robes covering her.

_Oh Spirits, that was no dream_

Korra threw off the funeral robes covering her in disgust and decided to go check out the guards.

She stood up quickly and winced as if in pain. She looked down and noticed there was no wound, her leg was completely healed. She then slowly patted her back, and while there was less material there now, she felt no gash or even a scar.

_How did he do that..._

Korra decided she would figure it out later, right now she needed to help the guards. She quickly ran over and immediately noticed they weren't in tattered bits and pieces like they were before.

She knelt down and gently pushed both of them to see if they would wake, but neither responded.

It would seem they were both unresponsive, so Korra decided to run outside and get help as fast as she could.

Not before however she took a long stare at the empty sarcophagus...

_What the hell are you...  
_

* * *

After hours of long healing, it seemed Katara had finally been able to restore some consciousness to the two guards who seemed unrevivable. It was a good thing she had stayed after the funeral and decided to wait for an audience with the avatar.

Of course the guards first words immediately were "Where's the food". She forced them to rest.

As Katara left the medical building, she decided it'd be a good time to talk to Korra about what happened. She walked towards Korra's assigned building and could hear two voices shouting at each other.

"Well that's good, at least she's awake" Katara mumbled to herself. She decided she'd wait outside and leaned in to listen.

"-ckin hell Korra! Are you even listening to yourself? How could you say that..."

Korra was slowly being pushed toward the wall. She looked at Mako with a look betrayal, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Well what else could you have been doing, you lying bastard. I was gone the whole night, I almost died! Meanwhile you were probably with some local WHORE, fucking her brains out while your GIRLFRIEND was being attacked."

Korra finally broke down and dropped into a crouch near the wall behind her. She cried into her arms curling up into a little ball.

"Do you ***sob*** have any idea, how scared I was?"

Mako deftly walked over and grabbed her arms and slid his hands into hers. He willed her to look into his constantly livid golden orange eyes which betrayed his emotions.

"Korra...I..."

He looked at her with sadness.

"Leave me alone, don't try to take my anger away, it's all I have left now."

Korra made the mistake of meeting his gaze with her brilliant sapphire eyes, which always radiated even more when she was crying.

"I love you, and no matter what you think about us or what you do, that won't change, ever..."

He reached into his pocket and seemed to play with the idea of showing whatever was in there to Korra.

Korra's eyes traced his hand to his pocket and she momentarily stopped crying.

"What...wh- ***sniffle* **is that?"

Her eyes searched his, looking for what he might say next.

"I was going to wait till we got back to republic city...but...now's a good a time as ever."

He pulled out an engagement necklace, something he had managed to craft over the past 3 days, toiling at night so she wouldn't notice.

Korra's eyes widened at what was to come next and she limply removed herself from her 'boyfriend', waiting for his next words anxiously.

"Korra will...*cough* you..."

He turned a new shade of red but managed to stare straight at her with the last words, looking past her eyes and into her soul.

"Marry me?"

Mako searched Korra's face for any betrayal of emotion or sign, willing her to say yes with his entire body, his being. Korra sobbed and threw her arms around Mako, tears staining his neck and shirt.

"Yes! I will Mako" She whispered into his ear as she buried her face into the nook of his shoulder. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but Korra knew that they would figure it out, together.

Mako hugged her back and kissed the top of her head gently, happy to hold her like that forever.

* * *

Korra walked out of her building wearing a brand new necklace positively brimming with happiness.

"So I heard the news, congratulations! This is a very special day for you dear" Katara came over and hugged Korra.

Korra sheepishly accepted and hugged her back, wondering how long she had been standing there listening...

"Come darling, we have other things to attend too." Korra sighed but nodded in agreement

Korra and Katara walked over to Tenzin's appointed residence and knocked on his door. A voice boomed from the innards of the house

"It's open, come on in"

The girls entered the house and went straight past the rooms to the library at the back.

Korra stepped in first and gleefully yelled

"Hey Tenzin! Look what Mako gave me."

She pointed at her new engagement necklace, not being able to control herself from toying with it every once in awhile. Tenzin walked over, smiling, and hugged Korra.

"I'm happy for you Korra, marriage is a beautiful thing. Once you find your true mate there's nothing that can separate you apart from one another."

Korra's mind drifted yet again to why Mako hadn't gone searching for her last night, she realized that she dropped it completely and didn't get an answer.

Korra replied with a half-smile.

Tenzin let go of Korra and asked her in his most sincere voice

"So, let's talk about this Amon thing"

Korra realized they would have to, but now that they came to it, everything that had just happened seemed to dull in comparison to the horror of last night. Katara came from behind Korra and reassuringly put her hands on her shoulders.

Korra sighed and began retelling her story to Tenzin, not leaving out any details. After spending an hour in the library retelling her story, Tenzin took on an air of mystery and stroked his beard as he usually would whenever he thought deeply about something.

"This is extremely disturbing news, Amon is clearly something far more powerful than a human or a bender"

Korra had trouble explaining how she had connected with Amon, she couldn't remember much after she had found that little ball of light inside his darkened soul. She faintly remembered a much kinder and powerful voice speaking to her while her body was being rejuvenated and mended.

Tenzin slowly walked over to a expansive bookcase on the other side of the room and picked out a fairly ancient tome on spirits and deities which seemed to be crumbling to pieces.

"Now, you said he looked like the spirit of death, right Korra?" His eyes wandering over to her.

Korra shivered as she replayed the flashback and replied

"He looked exactly like it, there was darkness just spilling out of him, and you could just feel the dread and fear emanating from him, bouncing all over the room."

Korra rubbed her skin as there were goosebumps all over her. There followed a moment of silence

Katara finally spoke up over the silence.

"Tenzin, If I remember correctly, the spirit of death never physically manifested itself in our world right? It only appears to people when they pass over to the spirit world, and even then its quite friendly, isn't it?"

Tenzin yet again furrowed his brow, as he spilled over the torn and tattered pages of the tome, trying to decipher its long-dead language.

"That's what worries me, this doesn't sound like it was a spirit. Korra described Amon's dead corpse as being possessed with a new life. Something like this has never happened before and is a perversion of the balance of life."

Korra seemed to remember the dark thing's words from last night.

_No you foolish girl, we are not a spirit..._

"Tenzin, I don't think it was Amon, it was something else inside him saying that they were not a spirit..."

_You have tried your best these countless millennia..._

"...And, it's something far older then the spirits, apparently its been watching me for a long time..."

_However, it is time to strip you...insure you can't do this damage again...return balance..._

"...It sounded like it didn't just mean me, but the avatar's spirit too..."

Korra stopped thinking. This was something that was way out of her league.

"...It said it wanted to destroy all of my former lives and get rid of me so that it could bring balance."

Tenzin stared intently at Korra

"Preposterous, the Avatar is the only one who can bring balance to this world, and you are it Korra"

Katara also gave it some thought and said

"With respect Tenzin, perhaps Korra isn't the only thing out there capable of bringing balance and peace? There are far more ancient things that we, as humans, do not know about or remember"

Korra glanced whimsically between Tenzin and Katara, it seemed they knew something she didn't.

Tenzin looked back to the book and seemed to have an epiphany

"Aha! It says here that Amon is also referred to as Amun or Amun-Ra. A being whose name is known as "The Hidden One". Apparently he championed the cause of the poor, troubled, and down-trodden."

Korra crossed her arms and smirked.

"That would explain all that equalist crap"

Tenzin looked up at her, frowned, and then looked back down.

"Yes quite. It says here that he was also one of the original beings who entered the...ethereal world?"

Everyone in the room seemed to be dumb-stricken and looked at each other.

_The ethereal world, what the hell is that?_

Tenzin furiously ripped through the book looking for a mention of the ethereal world.

"Why have I never heard of this place? What could it possibly be..."

He managed to find a snippet of information that mentioned that the ethereal world was a place that existed before time and spirits and mortals. The full details of which were explained in a different tome, named the _aethereum entes._

Tenzin left the book and ravished the bookcase searching for the tome, to no avail.

"Strange, I have never heard of such a book, I wonder where such a thing could be..."

Korra interceded for a moment. She couldn't shake off the chance to find out more...

"Tenzin, what does that book say about Noatak?" She asked coyly.

Tenzin raised an eyebrow questioningly, he didn't need to look to the book to answer that.

"Noatak was the first ever water spirit, the progenitor of all spirits, people, and things that can bend water. A majority of the northern water tribe people name their sons after him because they believe that his river originated here and flows through-out the world."

Korra didn't notice that her jaw had dropped in amazement and she quickly closed it.

Tenzin sighed, he thought it better not to go into why she asked that.

"Korra, stay here while me and Katara find the literature keeper of this town and get that book"

Korra nodded and watched Tenzin and Katara leave.

She walked over to the still open tome on the table and looked at the image of Amon. She was surprised, the image only looked slightly similar to what she saw last night. Although the figure was completely blacked out, the image didn't show darkness pouring from said figure and it looked rather friendly then reposing.

Korra sighed and flipped the book to the beginning on the first page.

"Hmph, Aatish, the first ever fire spirit, born from the condensing of the spirit world and its inhabitants."

Korra continued on reading through the tome, slowly becoming enthralled...

* * *

"I'm sorry sir, but if the book isn't in that library it's probably not anywhere. Our town may only be the 2nd largest in the Northern Tribe, but we're known for our fact keeping.

Tenzin and Katara looked at each other dejectedly.

"However, there are 2 other places left in the world that might have what you're looking for... The spirit library of Wan Shi Tong... and also the less heard of catacombs of Inuqtu Mountain. No one has been there for millennia supposedly, perhaps just a local myth that's been perpetuated."

Katara perked up at the mention of that, in their ancient language it meant Death Mountain.

"Well my father seems to have destroyed or at least rendered the spirit library unavailable for the time being...I guess we'll have to go to this mountain then."

Katara couldn't help herself, she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"Korra, we're back! Go pack some things and eat, we're going to head-out soon for that tome!"

Korra looked up from reading the tome and half-heartedly answered.

"Do I really need to come? Just go and get it yourself"

"This is a very important threat that we're facing Korra! Aren't you even a little interested? The library we're going to is supposedly haunted..."

Tenzin knew that would get her going, Katara however didn't find it funny at all.

Korra slammed the tome shut and ran off and said

"Be back in a couple of minutes!"

_Great, first Amon comes back from the dead and now a haunted library, quite the exciting life you live Korra..._

Korra slowed as she reached her building, noticing two figures in the window embracing.

She snuck up to the window and looked inside, she could hear someone purring at the other figure.

"Finally she's left us with a little alone time Mako, now I have you all to myself"

_ASAMI THAT BITCH_

Korra looked on in angst at the scene unfolding in front of her

"Asami, I can't keep doing this, this is our last time...I...I'm with Korra now"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Asami cooed into his ear as she started rubbing her hands across his chest towards his abdomen

"Oh come on baby, don't say that...just close your eyes and relax"

Mako seemed to do as she commanded and Korra lost herself. Mako opened his eyes again and saw Korra out the window, throwing her engagement necklace on the ground and stomping on it, tears streaming down her face.

_I'll never trust that bastard again, oh spirits I'm so gullible and STUPID_

Mako pushed Asami's encroaching lips from his face and ran outside.

"Korra WAIT, please! I can explain...I...I lov-"

Korra glanced back at the vile house that held those two betrayers, tears finally slowing as anger replaced her sadness.

She yelled at the house at the top of her voice.

"HOMEWRECKER"

Then she looked back at Mako and dripped out venomously

"Don't say it, don't say anything to me EVER again..."

She ran back towards Tenzin's house and didn't dare look back, she would not trust anyone like that again for a long time.

Mako crumpled in the snow failing to register what happened. He slowly crawled over to where Korra had stomped his engagement necklace into the snow. He tenderly picked it up, the crushed compacted stone and ice mixture had housed his father's only gift to him besides the scarf, his mother's birthstone. It glowed a beautiful tint of amber-red when caught in the light and his mother had worn it every day until she died.

Mako took both items and held them near his heart as he slowly and quietly sobbed to himself in the cold.

_God what have I done...Korra..._


End file.
